Directions

Notes

1. Periodically seal with glazing medium while working and upon completing a step. This seals and protects paint from lifting if you need to wipe or wash away any mistakes.

2. All dry brushing is done using decorator or chisel blender, wiping most of it off on a dry paper towel, and gently rubbing area until desired look is achieved.

3. Use #10, #14 or 3/4” flat, often dressed with a touch of glazing medium to do most of floats, and soften all floats by gently pouncing mop brush over water’s edge, and work like this, until it is almost dry.

4. All line work is done using either 10/0 or 18/0, and always thin paint to ink consistency and fully load liner. Always “blot” off the tip on paper towel to remove the bulk of it. This helps to “sharpen” tip to a nice pointed end.

5. For raking, fully load sable round with thinned paint. Gently hold brush straight up, and twist handle slightly to make bristles open up like a fan. Lean brush forward and hold in place for several seconds to encourage brush to hold its shape. Then, flip brush off of the palette. Turn brush around so that the curve cups upwards. Gently begin to rake, using little pressure as you work, in order to maintain the ‘cup’ shape on the sable. As you work, the brush will compress slightly, and sometimes works best this way. Reload each time in the same way.

6. For tints, load 3/4” flat with color as if to float, blending on palette so that it is well loaded for a float. Tap in wishy-washy movements, in soft “C” strokes, wiggles, and squiggles, always keeping water side of brush on outside of tint area. Also, make sure that you keep water side of brush clean and clear of paint. Keep shapes interesting by moving around in different shapes. Try and avoid a repetitive pattern. Use mop to soften edges of tints, working mostly in the water area, and not so much in the paint. Immediately wipe mops dry on paper towel. Take some time to practice.

Preparation

1. Wash jar with soap and water, and dry thoroughly. Mask off painting area at the seams, top and bottom. Close off lid and cover back side with newspaper to protect form over-spay. Wash painting area with rubbing alcohol; let dry. Spray paint even coat of flat paint, and let cure overnight.

2. Basecoat entire painting area Medium Beige. Apply a second coat, while wet, slip slap Burnt Umber at bottom and work your way up, using 3/4” oval wash. Add a bit extra mix of Burnt Umber + Carbon Black and slip slap under rooster to create a shadow. Pick up a bit of Sapphire Blue and work that into the top and meld together slightly with the brown. Pick up a bit of White and lighten very top of jar, mixing that into the wet Sapphire. Trace and cut out pattern. Transfer rooster to jar.

3. Comb and waddle: Add small markings or details around eye with Dark Red. In between these, add highlights with Light Pink. All face details are done using 10/0 Detailer and the waddle and comb are floated. Float highlight on beak with Light Grey.

4. Feet: Float a narrow shade along each side of legs and feet with Medium Grey. Add all the little lines or details with Dark Grey. Highlight with Titanium White. Add claws in Carbon Black.

5. Breast area (Section C): Rake under section B (breast area) with Light Beige, and once again with Light Orange. Rake in down feathers with Burnt Umber towards left side of body, fading out as you get higher. Add all bold dark markings with Dark Brown, using sable a bit tighter for this part. Add center veins in these dark markings with Dark Grey, and on breast section, Light Grey.

6. Neck and back tail (Section B): All details are done using sable, as a “round” brush, rather then a rake, as these feathers are bold. Also, all colors are brush mixed. Place Quinacridone Gold, Yellow Oxide, English Red Oxide and Titanium White all next to each other and created the feathers dipping in each one as needed. The tuft on his tail is also done at the same time. Start pulling in the long feathers along the neck with a mix of Quinacridone Gold + Yellow Oxide (1:1). Brighten this mix with ATO White. Keep stroking and building colors until desired effect is achieved. Take note that the brighter you get, the less you use. Shade under waddle with a brush mix of English Red Oxide and Brunt Umber, by pulling downwards with the brush, creating feather-like texture. The tuft on his tail is done using the same mixes, only use much shorter, thinner and delicate strokes.

8. Lower Wing and Tail (Section D): Dry brush soft down feathers on tail, where they attach to tuft with White. Rake in rich, vibrant highlights with Phthalo Green-Blue and ATO White. Brighten once more, only with shorter strokes with more White.

Straw

1. Stroke on the straw, hitting feet so that it looks nestled in a bit, with Yellow Oxide, and a mix with English Red Oxide.